Luxury Apartments in Mumbai

Indians today have a keen understanding of global trends and are becoming rather savvy in terms of their lifestyle expectations. It seems as though “luxury mania” has hit the people of Mumbai. No longer are they satisfied or willing to settle for the run of the mill type of apartments. If you have the money, live in luxury is today’s mantra. Real estate developers are cashing in on this growing trend in the market and you’ll find a number of real estate developers who are catering to the luxurious needs of the people. Moreover this demand for luxury is fueled by the NRI community, who are interested in investing in high end apartments.

Because of the exclusivity that it demands, luxury apartments today, are unique both in design and architecture. Moreover the location of these apartments need to be in strategic locations. Amenities and facilities are expected to be top notch, and people will settle for nothing less.

Unlike the trend abroad of fully furnished apartments, Indians are still unwilling to opt for a full furnished apartment. While the majority prefer the flexibility of choosing their own furniture, a number of people are quite open to the fact of choosing a partly fitted-out apartment i.e. modular kitchens; living rooms with extravagant light fittings, swanky ceilings and some other portions of the home also fitted out. More on Luxury Real Estate In Mumbai - Gated Communities and Luxury Fitments

South Bombay has always been coveted as a the property hotspot in Mumbai. Maybe it is because it is the oldest part of the city, because it was ‘the Bombay’ during the grandiose days of the British Raj, or maybe because it has the best 5 star hotels, magnificent apartments with a panoramic view of the sea and prime business centers. Whatever the reason, property in this tony area has always sold at premium rates. In spite of the steeply rising prices, there are a number of buyers who are willing to pay phenomenally high rates for an apartment in South Mumbai.

Today, real estate in south Mumbai is very limited, interest is high on luxury property due to the status value attached to them. Celebrities, Affluent executives, and NRI’s have steadily been breaking records for the highest priced real estate. Recently a NRI, from London, acquired a 3475 sq ft property in NCPA apartments at Nariman Point for Rs 97,842 per sq ft. Now Bollywood actor and BJP MP Vinod Khanna has broken this record by buying a resident in an up market residential enclave at Malabar Hill for a whopping 1.25 lakh a sq ft. On 20 ^th May 2008, II Palazzo, one of Malabar Hill’s most prominent landmark buildings, created a national record after the apartment was sold at the rate of Rs 1.20 lakh a square foot. Formerly owned by Citibank, the apartment is a 2,500 sq ft sea-facing flat with a large living room, spacious bedrooms and a separate servant’s quarter.

The selling price of the flat was four times higher than the original reserve price of Rs. 32,000 per sq ft. Khanna paid Rs. 31.25 crore for the apartment. The flat was put on sale a couple of weeks ago and the auction took place at the Citibank office in the IL&FS building in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. There were around 12 other bidders in the auction which was conducted by Mrunal Duggar of C B Richard Ellis, a global property consultancy firm. Vinod Khanna won the grueling auction, creating a new Luxury Real Estate Price Record in Mumbai.

Vinod Khanna debuted in Sunil Dutt’s 1968 film Man Ka Meet as a villain. He acted in multi-starrer films often playing supporting and negative roles in hit films such as Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Sachaa Jhutha (1970) and Mera Gaon Mera Desh(1971). His big break was in the 1971 film Mere Apne directed by Gulzar. His sensitive performance as an army officer facing death row in another Gulzar scripted and directed 1973 film Achanak was critically acclaimed. The songless film echoed the true life story of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra and Khanna portrayed Kawas Nanavati, the real life Navy officer.

He went on to star in many hits throughout the mid 1970s and early 1980s, including Parvarish (1977), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Khoon Pasina (1977), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), The Burning Train (1980) and Qurbani (1980). Having peaked in Bollywood, he became a follower of the spiritual teacher Osho (Rajneesh) and left the film industry in 1979 for eight years. At this time, he was the most successful actor in the Bollywood, competing with Amitabh Bachchan. He rejoined the industry, eight years later in mid 1980s. He continued to appear in many notable films from the mid 1980s to the 1990s such as Dayavan (1988), Chandni (1989), Kshatriya (1993) Eeena Meena Deeka (1994) and Ekka Raja Rani (1994).

In 1997, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was nominated from Gurdaspur, East Punjab in the next year’s Lok Sabha poll.

The star-factor helped him oust three time Lok Sabha member Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder. Bhinder’s perceived inability to develop the area outweighed the “outsider” tag applied to Khanna. The latter became union minister for culture and tourism in July 2002. Six months later he was moved to the more important ministry of external affairs (MEA) as minister of state. In 2004 he won re-election from Gurdaspur.

He was the highest taxpayer in Mumbai in 1990-91. Presently, he continues to participate in the film business based out of Dubai. His sons Akshay Khanna and Rahul Khanna are Hindi film actors.

Wikipedia on Vinod Khanna

It seems as though trouble is brewing in the luxury real estate market in Mumbai.

Demand from local investors has died down dramatically, and now even the Non-Resident Indians or NRI’s who were major investors in such luxury properties, are cooling off. NRI’s are expecting property rates to go lower, just as the US property market is currently witnessing major changes due to the subprime crisis.

Until around four to five years ago, there were just a few developers who were involved with building luxury homes. However many others joined in, due to the higher margins involved.  These developers entered the luxury sector, without a proper analysis or assessment. Thus now they face an imbalance between demand and supply. In the suburbs of Mumbai, the supply outstrips the demand. In fact it is estimated by Jones Lang LaSalle, real estate consultancy firm, that supply exceeds demand by nearly 25 to 35%.

The NRI investors comprised of nearly 20% of luxury home buyers. And these numbers have dropped. The drop in numbers does not look good for the luxury realty market in Mumbai. Moreover, multiple developers seem to be attracting the same NRI segment. Developers are linking up with banks, who have a list of high net potential people, and are offering them freebies such as free round trip tickets to India, in order to take a look at their properties.

At such times, it makes more sense to attract people of Indian origin. PIO’s are those generation of people, whose forefathers migrated during the British reign, and are now settled abroad. There is a considerable number of PIO’s in Australia, Africa, the UK etc.

With dramatically improved lifestyles and a burgeoning budget at their disposable, Mumbai’s rising affluent class are no longer haggling over current real estate prices when it comes to choosing their dream homes. In most cases they are even looking at second or third homes, seeking the best there is to lifestyle and quality. Builders too are no longer a chip off the old block. From glossy brochures to ‘intelligent’ advertising they too have gone all out to seek buyers who are willing to roll out the dough for a good piece of property. Of course it all depends where this prime piece of property is sought.
 
Going by the location would also determine rising prices. It further boosts the buyer’s credibility and social standing if he happens to be in the elite list of “Only by Invitation,” from the builder. Just getting an invitation is not the end of this exclusive affair. It is backed by a thorough screening of the buyer’s lifestyle followed with a series of personal interactions, rather a comprehensive background check and interviews. But then again if this buyer is part of the list, then the elite and the luxury section calls for a different story altogether.

Meanwhile the bourgeois Indian from the rising fourth generation, is seeking comfort akin to international standards with the addition of modern conveniences such as spas and saunas, swimming pools, gymnasiums, gardens, jogging tracks, etc. Thanks to the increased spending power of the buyer and the rising economy of the state, there is a growing demand from young turks and executives across the new economy. This has been more than a good boost to builders who are certainly not shirking from the demands and offering the very best that money can buy. Most builders even lend a touch of discretion to the entire buying experience, providing an aura of exclusivity to the buyer.

It doesn’t matter whether the city aims to be the new Shanghai or is referred to as New York of India, or even if some parts of the city have so rapidly deteriorated over the years that it is no longer recognizable. What matters is that today’s buyer, from the new rising generation, is well aware of the deep implications that property buying holds for the future.

There is a good blend of high rise residential and commercial townships if the buyer is learned enough to realize the amount of profit that could be garnered from further renting or leasing the property he has purchased. Moreover with the advent of multinational organizations in the city, the city has never had it so good. Taking a cue from this trend, builders have grown exponentially over the last few years, which is a clear indication that the demand and need for luxury real estate will continue to rise making a win-win situation for all.